The New Defense Teacher
by Ablus Severus Potter
Summary: It's two days befoer the start of a new term at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore is in need of a new DADA teacher. What will happen when a young man with a lightning bolt scar shows up to apply for the position?
1. The New Defense Teacher

"Minerva, I just don't know what I'm going to do. If I call the ministry and ask them to send over someone, they'll think Hogwarts is weakening. And, you never know who they'll send."

"Albus, we've been through this a dozen times before, someone will show up, they always do."

"I certainly hope you're right."

It was just then that there was a knock on the door.

"Enter."

Dumbledore figured it was one of the other teachers with a question about the new school year, but in walked a young man with shoulder length blonde hair, startling green eyes, and a curious scar on his forehead. He was about average height, and even though he looked young, his eyes held a look of someone who had seen and been through too much.

"I had heard that you were looking for a defense against the dark arts teacher, am I correct?"

"Well, yes we are, but may I ask, aren't you a bit young to be teaching?"

The boy sighed, "Well I suppose I am, but I've had lots of experience." He reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Dumbledore.

"Harry Daniel Jameson, born July 31, 1958. You had six years of wizard schooling. May I ask where?"

"I was home schooled…by a friends parents."

"I see. Only six years? Wizarding school is usually seven."

"Well you see, with the war and all, there were several reasons I quit learning formally. I think however, that I learned more in that one year than I could have ever possibly learned that year in school."

Dumbledore merely nodded and continued reading the paper.

"Previous experience… a troll, three headed dog, acramantela, a basilisk, dementors, werewolf, bogarts, dragon, merpeople, death eaters, a giant, thestral, more death eaters, inferi, death eaters again, snake lady, fiery serpent, and death eaters several more times. Wow I must say that this is the most impressive resume I've ever seen. There are however, a few things that must be discussed."

He walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a small bottle of clear liquid.

"I hope you aren't opposed to a bit of precaution, but with the war and all one can never be too careful." Harry nodded and Dumbledore poured a few drops into a small glass and handed it to Harry who drank it. Immediately his eyes got all foggy and his face fell expressionless.

"Are you in any way working for Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Have you ever had any connection with him?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore looked a bit surprised and asked, "In what way?"

"He was in my mind sir."

Dumbledore didn't press the issue assuming eh meant the imperius curse.

"Have you or would you ever consider working for him?"

"No."

The potion was starting to wear off. "That is all."

"Now Harry I must make sure, even though your resume is excellent, that you are qualified to teach defense against the dark arts. I must ask you to pass just a few minor tests. The first is the aurors test. You do not have to qualify to be an auror, I would like to see how well you do."

He handed Harry the stack of parchment and a quill.

About half an hour later Harry handed it back to Dumbledore.

He looked over it then back up at Harry.

"I think this in itself qualifies you for the position. You did better than any auror I've ever met. Minerva will take you and show you to your rooms. Classes begin on Monday, so you only have two days to prepare. I will see you this evening in the teachers lounge for a small meeting."

Harry followed Minerva through the hallways of Hogwarts to the defense room.

"This is the classroom," she said pointing to the first door, "and this is your rooms."

Harry thanked her and went into his rooms. They were slightly different than when he had been in here with Professor Lupin, but he figured he could make a few changes.

He opened his trunk and started to unpack his belongings. The first thing he took out was the picture of his parents dancing. He placed that on his nightstand.

Then he found the picture book that Hagrid had made him. He had added pictures to it since then. Harry sat down on the bed and began to flip through the book. There were pictures of him as a baby with his parents and Remus and Sirius. There was the old picture of the Order and the newer one. He felt tears start to well up in his eyes and had to close the book.

Harry started to regret this idea of coming here to get away form it all. True, he did want to get away from being the "Boy who Lived" and "The Chosen One", but he didn't know if he could handle seeing his parents or Sirius or even Peter again.

He pushed these thoughts out of his mind. If he was going to stay here, he would have to stop living in the past. Or was it the future?

oOo

As Harry left the headmaster's office, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair to think. There was something odd about this Harry. How could someone that young have faced death eaters that many times?

What was the lightning bolt scar on his forehead?

Why was Voldemort in his mind and was he still there?

Dumbledore remembered his eyes. They had looked, haunted. He also remembered the way he had looked at him. It was a mixture of joy and sorrow and almost anger.

Fawkes flew over and landed on his shoulder. She what do you think of this new teacher? Fawkes cooed lightly and flew off. Dumbledore sighed and went back to his work, but he made a vow to find out more about this Harry Jameson.

oOo

Before going down to the meeting, Harry finished unpacking. He took all his books and placed them on the shelves.

His robes he put into the wardrobe in the corner of his bedroom. His broom, he decided, went into the corner of the small sitting area. He took note that there was floo powder by the fireplace.

Going back to his trunk, Harry removed a small wooden box. On top of it was inscribed HJP with a Gryffindor lion on one side and the Slytherin snake on the other. In it, he had sealed the elder wand, the resurrection stone, the locket, the Marauders map, the snitch, the deluminator and Snape's memories. He placed Gryffindor's sword behind the box on the mantle. The invisibility cloak went into his wardrobe with his clothes.

Remembering the mischief and mayhem caused by the Marauders, Harry decided it was going to be an interesting year.


	2. Reflections

Harry strode down the grand halls of Hogwarts to the staff meeting. He was looking around and taking in how much Hogwarts changed when Fawkes flew over to him and landed on his shoulder.

"Hi. I haven't seen you in a very long time." Fawkes cooed and rubber her beak against Harry's face. Harry had to wonder if somehow Fawkes knew him even though eh was from a different time. While he was pondering, Fawkes flew off just as suddenly as she had landed. That's odd, Harry thought to himself.

oOo

Harry arrived in the staff room just in time to be introduced as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"He won't last any longer than any of the others," the one teacher who Harry knew to be Slughorn.

Harry feigned innocence and asked, "What do you mean not last longer?"

McGonagall looked slightly worried and said, "Well you see the defense position has had to be replaced every year for a very long time. Many people like to spread rumors that it's cursed." She glanced pointedly at Slughorn.

"Perhaps I could properly introduce our new teacher," said Dumbledore. "This is Harry Jameson. He is very highly qualified to be teaching DADA. I expect all of you to treat him as an equal despite his age."

"He does look rather young. I'm Rolanda Hooch. I was the youngest teacher…that is until now. How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Everyone's face in the room fell.

Minerva spoke up, "If Albus says he's qualified, then I would not question his age." She spoke in such a manor that she really said, 'this discussion is over.'

The meeting continued as they discussed the new term, the war, and tried to find out more about Harry. He however, didn't give out much information. He just wanted to be anonymous.

Dumbledore dismissed the meeting and Harry returned to his rooms avoiding everyone's questions.

oOo

As soon as Harry reached his rooms, he flopped onto the bed. He let out a deep sigh as he reflected on the events of the past week.

After defeating eh had expected, for some reason, that he would just become anonymous and go on living his life. He found out that that was not the case.

He was swarmed with reporters and photographers all wanting to get a few minutes of his time. They even wanted to put him on a chocolate frog card as The Boy Who Lived.

He was so sick of being "The Boy Who Lived" and "The Chosen One". All he wanted to be was Harry Potter. Just a normal person, not that he'd ever be normal, but as close to normal as he could get.

He had managed to escape the madness and went to Dumbledore's office. Even though Minerva was the new headmistress, it would always be Dumbledore's office.

He had a long discussion with Dumbledore and thanked Snape's portrait for all that he had done.

When he heard the reporters coming, he sealed the door so they couldn't get in and flung his head down on the desk.

"I wish there was somewhere I could go and get away form all of this!"

Snape said, "Potter, where on earth are you going to go where they can't find you? You know no matter where you go they'll track you down one way or another."

Harry looked up in time to see Dumbledore's eyes twinkle. "It may not be a question of _where_ Harry could go but a question of _when_. Harry looked slightly confused.

"Professor, what do you mean when?"

"There is a secret compartment in my desk Harry. If you pull out the top four drawers so the numbers underneath them are 1 – 8 – 8 – 1 from left to right, a small compartment will open on the side of the desk."

When Harry did this, sure enough sure enough, there was a pop and a small drawer opened up. Inside Harry found a silver time turner.

"Um, Professor, how is a time turner going to help me? They only send you back a few hours?"

Dumbledore smiled and said, "That is a very special time turner. It was in my family for years. Instead of taking you back and hour, each turn takes you back one year. I remember in 1976 I was having serious trouble finding a teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Perhaps you could help me out?" He twinkled at Harry. "You would of course be needing a disguise and some other things."

Dumbledore had told him to keep the elder wand and find the resurrection stone. He also told him to borrow the deluminator from Ron, as it would "come in handy". He instructed Harry to take the locket, the sword, the map and cloak.

He had also given him a bottle of silvery liquid that he assumed was a memory with the directions to view it when he got settled in.

Harry shot up from the bed remembering the bottle. He rummaged trough his trunk before finding it. He found a pensieve already in his room. He thought that was odd but didn't dwell on it.

He dumped the liquid in to the pensieve and felt himself floating into the memory.

oOo

He found himself in a dimly lit room. There was a window and by it sat an elderly looking woman. On her lap sat a beautiful raven. She had long brown hair and wore blue and bronze robes.

She was talking but Harry realized it wasn't English. It seemed she was talking to the bird. It was soft and sweet like a birds song.

Harry moved closer and she turned to face the inside of the room where Harry was standing. He then recognized her as Rowena Ravenclaw.

In the middle of talking to her bird, her face went expressionless and her voice changed. It was more hoarse and she was speaking in English.

_When the Dark Lord is vanquished by the true Master of Death, _

_The Boy Who Lived, then shall he, who possesses _

_the tongue of the serpent and the bravery of the lion, _

_travel to a time when he is unknown to fix the errs of man. _

_He must destroy the six items again with a deadly poison._

_Then he must face the owner of the seven_

_so that their lives become the lives they deserve._

The scene melted before Harry and he found himself back at Hogwarts confused and his scar throbbing with pain.

oOo

**A/N Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed and I hope you will continue to! **

**Oh and by the way the thing with the drawers was from National Treasure 2 but it seemed to fit, and I don't take any credit for it. **


	3. Frustrations, Unforgivables, and a Snake

Harry collapsed to the floor not out of pain but in complete disbelief and misery

Harry collapsed to the floor not out of pain but in complete disbelief and misery.

"What in the world was Dumbledore thinking?!" Harry cried aloud in despair. "He kept me alive only so that I could die at the right time, and now he's going to make me go through all this again! This time I won't even have any help at all!"

He stood up and reached for the nearest item to throw which happened to be his stack of books on the table. He growled in frustration as he flung the book against the wall. It fell to the floor with a thud.

Realizing that violence wouldn't help fix the situation he was in, he sank back to the ground.

He rolled the words of Ravenclaw over in his mind. _So that their lives become the lives they deserve. _The life he deserved, what life was that? Could it mean that he would have parents? The lives they deserve meant that Voldemort would also get the life he deserved, death. The thing he feared most was what he deserved. Or did he? Could it be possible that he wasn't completely evil? People weren't specifically good or bad. Everyone had some of both in them. It was your decisions that make you who you are, not your abilities Dumbledore had once told him. He sighed and got up, took a few deep breaths and decided to put his mind on something else.

Slowly he stood up and went over to the pensieve. He conjured the slivery liquid back in to the container and set it aside.

Realizing that his first lesson was tomorrow, he decided to sit down and decide what he was going to teach.

How on earth was he supposed to teach kids the same age as him and have them take him seriously? Especially the Marauders. A small smirk came to his lips at the thought of teaching the marauders. Seconds later it fell. What if they hated him? With a pang of grief he realized that James and Lily weren't his parents, at least not in this time they weren't. They were only teenagers.

He sank back into his chair with a heavy sigh. He would just have to wait it out and find out what the marauders and Lily and even Snape thought of him.

oOo

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Harry said with little enthusiasm.

Professor Dumbledore walked into the room. "Harry do you have a minute?"

"Of course Professor. What do you need?"

"Harry, we are co-workers, equals. Please call me Albus."

Harry nodded and Albus continued, "I was wondering how much you know about the unforgivable curses."

A dark look of grief, distress and possibly anger spread across Harry's face. With a deep sigh he said, "Sir, Albus, unfortunately I doubt you could find someone more experienced." He was avoiding Dumbledore's gaze. He was finding the empty desk he was sitting at very interesting.

By the look on his face Dumbledore could tell that he had been the victim of them, not the user.

"I see," Dumbledore said looking questioningly at Harry. When Harry made no effort to elaborate, Dumbledore continued, "Seeing as we are in a war, I feel it is necessary for the seventh years, who will soon be facing the world on their own, to be aware of these curses. The ministry has not agreed with my position on this for many years, but they have recently legalized the use of the unforgivables by aurors."

Harry looked up sharply in surprise but remained silent.

"I believe that if they think they're legal to use, then the students are entitled learn about them. I would like you to teach them, not how to use them, but what they are, do and how to avoid them." He paused for a moment. "Of course there is no avoiding avada kedrava."

Harry had to bite his lip so hard to keep form laughing. He didn't succeed very well and let out a small snort. Dumbledore apparently didn't notice, or if he did he chose not to show it. "Will you be able to do this?"

Harry replied a bit nervously, "Yes sir. Would you like me to demonstrate them?"

Dumbledore twinkled at him and said, "Ah, that my boy is completely up to you. You are, after all, the teacher." With that said Dumbledore turned and walked out of the room.

Well, Harry thought, at least I know what I'll be teaching in my first lesson.

oOo

The opening feast was this evening, but before that Harry needed to visit Diagon Alley.

He flooed into the Leaky Cauldron. It was so nice, he mused, to be able to walk into here without all the oohs and ahhs. He went straight to the potions shop to look for some insect or another to demonstrate on. He found a spider and smiled slightly as he bought it.

On his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, after he had bought several bags of sweets and other odds and ends, a small store tucked back almost completely hidden by the other massive buildings caught his attention.

He wondered over to it and went inside. A small bell rang when he entered, and a little old man hobbled out from the back of the store.

"Can I help you lad?" he said in a shaky gruff voice.

"No, no thank you I'm just looking around." He found himself in a small dingy room with animal cages everywhere. Some contained normal animals like owls or rates or cats, but others contained animals Harry had never even seen before. He noticed a small snake coiled in a cage towards the back. Leaning down to pick it up he coaxed, _**"Don't worry. I wont hurt you."**_

"_**How odd that one the human kind speaks my language. I have never met one who could before. A rare and special talent this must be. You are the one. The one I have been waiting for all this time. You are meant to be my master." **_

The snake bowed its head slightly to Harry. Harry figured he could use a new familiar seeing as he no longer had Hedwig.

Harry walked towards the back of the and said, "Um, excuse me. I'd like to purchase this."

The old man hobbled out and gasped when he saw the snake coiled on Harry's arm.

"Th-that's what you want to buy? Well good luck. Every other customer who's ever tried to take her has brought her back almost immediately. Tell you what, since I can't seem to get rid of her, I'll let you have her free of charge as long as you promise not to bring her back. Deal?"

"Thank you very much sir. I don't think I'll have any reason to bring her back though."

The storeowner shook his head as Harry left. "What a shame the poor boy seemed so interested. Too bad he didn't realize that snake was owned by Salazar Slytherin and still thinks he's coming back to take care of her."

oOo

**A/N Sorry it took me so long to update but I've been so busy lately. I should have at least another chapter or two up this week. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! **

.


	4. Feast

As soon as Harry returned to Hogwarts, he immediately took out the box--which held the snake--and opened it

As soon as Harry returned to Hogwarts, he immediately took out the box--which held the snake--and opened it. The snake slithered out of the box with smooth grace and elegance. It lifted itself up until it almost reached Harry's eye level. It swayed its head ever so slightly from side to side. It began to speak,

"_**Oh noble master," it bowed its head to Harry, "long have I waited for your return. But it seems that I have not waited in vain, for you have come at last."**_

The snake looked back up at Harry and saw the look of utter confusion on his face.

"_**How is it that you are not my master? None hath ever spoken my language before. You must be the heir of Salazar Slytherin." **_

With a deep breath, Harry explained the story of how he became a Parseltongue.

"_**I see. Even if you are not my master's descendent by blood, you are a very powerful wizard. Therefore, I shall still serve you. I am called Nagendra. What is it that they call you?"**_

"_**Harry. Harry Potter. Or... well, in this time, Harry Jameson. I traveled through time to be here, and I'm supposed to re-write time to fix its errors."**_

Harry happened to glance up at the clock and noticed it was quarter to seven--fifteen minutes until the welcoming feast. With haste he told Nagendra about the welcoming feast and stowed her in his room before rushing about to get ready.

oOo

Harry only had a few minutes to get ready and get down to the hall, so he threw on the first pair of dress robes he found; navy blue with golden leaf embroidery along the edges. He combed his hair, even if it was useless, and washed his face. Two minutes left. He ran out the door and down the stairs towards the great hall.

Coming to a halt directly in front of the doors to the great hall, Harry stopped to catch his breath. Panting and leaning on the door, he looked at his watch. Exactly seven o'clock. He had made it.

He paused to listen to what Dumbledore was saying. Good, he thought, they were still doing the sorting. Harry was beginning to get nervous.

Dumbledore had told him he was to wait outside the door until he announced about the new DADA teacher. Harry began to pace back and forth.

"As we have many times in the past, I would like to welcome a new defense against the dark arts professor, Harry Jameson."

Harry pushed open the heavy oak door, and was met with several hundred pairs of eyes. Luckily, he was used to having to deal with lots of eyes on him. He smiled slightly and walked up to the headmaster who extended his hand. Harry shook it.

"I hope you'll have an excellent year here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, quite welcomingly.

Harry's smile widened as he nodded.

"Thank you."

He took his seat at the head table between a professor he didn't know and Minerva McGonagall. She smiled warmly at him. She looked so much younger and less stressed.

"So Harry, have you been enjoying the castle so far?"

Harry turned to Professor McGonagall and replied, "Yes, I have--I even had a chance to visit Diagon Alley this morning."

"Oh yes, it's a very interesting place, Diagon Alley. Did you find anything to your liking there?"

"Well, I did find several books and some candies. I came across a rather odd pet store also."

"Which one? There are a few of them around."

"I actually don't even know what it's called. It was just a small store tucked in amongst other bigger, better stores. It looked like no one went in there very often, but it caught my attention for some odd reason."

McGonagall frowned slightly at this. "I believe I know which one you're talking about. It's rather dingy and dusty. That place, I'm afraid, has the reputation of carrying many dark creatures. I hope you didn't purchase anything there."

Harry blushed slightly. "Actually I did. I'm rather fond of snakes. I find them to be rather good companion. They're very intelligent creatures."

"Yes they are. It's unfortunate that they have such a horrible reputation. They're very commonly thought of as a mark of evil."

"Oh believe me, I know all about that," Harry said, a knowing look in his eye.

"Well then I suppose you know why the snake represents Slytherin house."

"Because Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth. He could talk to snakes."

"I'm impressed. You read up on your Hogwarts history."

"Well, um, yes, I did. I figured that if I'd be teaching here, I should know something about the school."

Before Minerva could respond, there was a loud bang at the Slytherin table. Harry jumped, whipped out his wand and looked over to find a very startled Severus Snape holding his fork staring at what was his dinner plate.

Harry's eyes immediately searched for the Marauders. He found them huddled together at the end of the Gryffindor table with their shoulders shaking.

Minerva was up and over at their table in the blink of an eye.

"Mr. Potter! I take it you and your friends are responsible for this?"

Sirius looked up at her and with a perfectly straight face said, "Why, Minnie my love! What would ever lead you to believe we are responsible for such an outrageous act?"

This only seemed to make Minerva madder. "Detention for all of you for the next week!" She turned on her heel and stomped back up to the head table.

As soon as she turned and walked away, the Marauders all high-fived each other.

"That has to be a new record! Detention for a week and we've only been here for half an hour! This is going to be a great year!" said James.

"I concur with Prongs! This is going to be the best year ever!" said Sirius.

"Huzzah!" All four of them chorused together.

oOo


	5. First Lesson

For his first class, Harry had seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors

For his first class, Harry had seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors. Why did they always insist on putting Gryffindor and Slytherin together? It was a wonderful combination if you wanted a brawl to start every day. And to top it all off, Harry had to teach all about the unforgivable curses.

At precisely half past eight, Harry Jameson strode into his classroom, which was already full. A hush immediately fell, and he was greeted with many pairs of curious eyes. He took a deep breath and stepped forward; he half expected to be tripped or jinxed in some way, with the Marauders in the room, but he walked without any problem up to his desk and sat down.

"Seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins, right?" His question was answered by several people nodding. Harry nodded slightly, more to himself than anything and began:

"My name is Harry Jameson and I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. If you lot have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them."

James Potter's hand went into the air immediately.

"Yes... Mr. Potter, is it?"

James nodded.

"How old are you?"

Harry grimaced slightly.

"I'm eighteen."

The most of the class gasped and Sirius blurted out, "How'd you become a teacher so young? How on earth are you qualified to teach students who are practically the same age as you?"

Remus leaned over and whacked Sirius in the arm.

"You shouldn't be rude!" he reprimanded. Sirius made a face of mock pain and rubbed his arm.

Harry took a deep breath. "I've had loads of experience with dealing with the Dark Arts… much against my better wishes."

The haunted look on his face did not go unnoticed by any of the more observant students.

Lily Evans's hand went up into the air.

"Yes... Miss Evans?"

"What will we be learning this year?"

"Well, I was actually thinking about asking you the same question. What did you cover last year?"

There were several murmurs around the room. Remus spoke up.

"You see professor, we didn't have the best teacher last year. All we did was read about the history."

Harry nodded because he completely understood the position the class was in, having Umbridge as a teacher himself.

"Well, then, we'll start at the beginning; learning basic self defense spells. Then we should move onto more advanced defense. If any of you have something that you want to learn about, don't hesitate to ask me about it."

Lily's hand went up into the air again, only this time with a little less confidence.

"Miss Evans?"

"Professor, do you think you'd be able to teach us about the unforgivable curses?"

Several people gasped.

"He can't teach those!"

"They're illegal!"

"He's not allowed!"

Harry raised up his hands to signal for silence. "Actually, Professor Dumbledore already spoke to me about the Unforgivables. He wants me to teach you about them and how to possibly save yourself from them. He believes it is vital information with the current state of affairs."

The classroom was dead silent.

Harry sighed, reached into his desk, and pulled out a glass jar containing a spider. He got up from his desk and walked around to the chalkboard and asked,

"Can anyone name one of the Unforgivables?"

Several hands slowly went into the air.

"Mr. Black?"

"The Imperius Curse."

"Very good. Do you know what the Imperius curse does?"

"It's a mind control spell. The person who's under it will do whatever the caster commands."

"Very good, Mr. Black. 10 points to Gryffindor. The Imperius curse is a spell in which the caster has complete control over the victim. However, it is also the easiest of the curses to survive. It is possible to overcome the Imperius Curse. The teacher who taught me about the curses put the Imperius on every one in the class until we could all fight it."

Some of the class gasped. "I will not be doing this to you. I will be demonstrating them for you, however."

He picked up the jar with the spider in it and opened it.

"Engorgio." The spider immediately grew to about three times the size it was. "Imperio!"

The spider began to tap dance across Harry's desk. It stopped and took a bow, and then it began to perform a series of acrobatic tricks. The class began to laugh; it was quite a sight to see, a performing spider.

"You think it's funny?" said Harry. "What if I made it walk into a fire, or drown itself? Would you be laughing then? You have to remember what a serious matter this spell is. Many people have claimed to only work for Lord Voldemort because they were under the Imperius Curse."

The whole class gasped because Harry had spoken the feared name of Voldemort.

Harry was used to this and simply ignored the looks he was receiving.

"Can anyone tell me another one of the Unforgivables?"

Severus Snape's hand was the first Harry saw. "Yes Mr. Snape?"

"There's the Cruciatus. It's a torture spell."

"Very good. 10 points to Slytherin. The Cruciatus is indeed a torture spell and a very, very painful one at that. The only way I can explain how it feels is that it feels like every bone in your body is on fire."

Bellatrix Black's hand went up. "Yes Miss Lestrange?"

"My last name's Black not Lestrange, and how do you know what Crucio feels like?"

Harry mentally kicked himself for the little slip up. Hopefully, he thought, they would just credit it to him being a new teacher. How was he supposed to know their names by heart on his first day?

"Well," Harry began and he could have sworn he heard Sirius say 'that's a deep subject,' but he ignored it and moved on. "I have had the misfortune of being under the Cruciatus. Although, unlike the Imperious, my teacher didn't put me under it. It was sometime later I was exposed to it."

He paused for a moment to see if there were any more questions. He noticed they were almost out of time so he decided to cover the last spell quickly.

"Anyways, moving on. The last Unforgivable is the most deadly. Avada Kedrava is the killing spell. There is no escaping it or its effects."

Harry had to smile to himself as he was saying this. He had escaped it several times and lived through it hitting him twice, but of course he didn't plan on telling them that.

The bell rang and seemed to knock the room's occupants out of their trance. They slowly got up and began to file out of the room.

"Well, I suppose that's all for today, class. I'll see you tomorrow." Harry said as they were leaving.

Harry sat down in his chair and thought 'It's going to be a very long year.'

oOo

As soon as they were out of the classroom, Sirius began to talk.

"Can you believe he's only eighteen?! How can he be teaching? I can't believe Dumbledore!"

"And he's performing the Unforgiveable curses for us!" James added.

"Yes but did you notice he only demonstrated the Imperious for us. He just skipped over the other two," commented Remus.

"He said you-know-who's name!" Peter squeaked.

James, Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement.

"There is definitely something odd about him," said Remus thoughtfully. "Maybe we should give him a chance, though. He could turn out to be an amazing teacher. He must know a ton about Defense Against the Dark Arts if Dumbledore hired him so young."

"You're right, Moony. I guess we should at least give him a chance. But he's still rather suspicious. I say we keep our eye on him until we find out more," said James as they entered the Transfiguration classroom.

oOo


	6. Searching

Harry sat down at the desk in his living quarters feeling completely overwhelmed by everything ahead of him. He had no idea where to start in his search for horcruxes. After several minutes of pondering, he decided the best place to start was at the very beginning. He got out a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink. After several minutes of hurried scribbling, he paused looking down at what he had written.

Tom Riddle's Diary

Marvolo Gaunt's Ring

Slytherin Locket

Huffelpuff's Cup

Ravenclaw's Diadem

Nagini

Myself

After some extra thought, he crossed himself off the list. He didn't become a horcrux until that fatal night when his parents had died. He also wasn't sure if Nagini would be a horcrux yet or not. He began to write where they were located on the parchment, but realized there was a slim to none chance of them being in the same place.

"Oh well," he thought, "it's worth a try." After all he had to start somewhere.

The first place he decided to look was the room of requirement. If any of them would be in the same place, it would be the diadem. Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, Marauder's map, his wand, and his broom remembering last time.

It was about 1 in the morning, so he figured he really shouldn't run into anyone. Not really paying attention to where he was going, Harry wandered through the halls. As he was rounding the corner to the hallway that held the infamous room of requirement, he slammed full force into someone, or something, coming the other way. He landed with a *thud* on the cold concrete floor. Quickly he gathered his things and looked up. He found himself face to face with Severus Snape.

"P-professor? What are you doing here?" he stammered.

"I was, uh, I was just patrolling the halls."

Snape looked very skeptical. "Wearing an invisibility cloak and carrying a broom?"

"Well you uh never know what you're going to run into, do you? And as a matter of fact, what are you doing out of bed? If my memory serves me right, you're supposed to be in bed."

"Well…I was just, uh…"

"Listen, I'll let you off this time, but this time only. Now I suggest you head back to your dormitory and get some sleep. Good night." Leaving a very confused Severus Snape behind, Harry strode off trying to make himself look authoritative. He watched Snape on the marauder's map, and once he was a decent distance away, Harry headed towards the room of requirements.

oOo

"I need somewhere to hide something, I need somewhere to hide something, I need somewhere to hide something," Harry thought as he paced back and forth in front of the secret door. He very cautiously opened the new door and crept inside, leaving the door open. Luckily he remembered where he found it the first time, and was able to locate it rather quickly. Before grabbing it, he mounted his broom, ready to kick off. In one swift movement, he grabbed the diadem and kicked off. Soaring through the room at top speed, he searched for the exit. As he turned to slam the door, he saw the fire billowing after him. With a resounding *BANG* he slammed the door shut.

Harry leaned up against the now bare wall and slid down it breathing hard. He looked down at the object he now held in his hand. "One down, five to go," he thought bitterly.

He heard faint footsteps approaching from his right. Quickly, he grabbed his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself. The footsteps came closer and closer until they came around the corner where he and Snape had collided earlier. Albus Dumbledore was standing there looking completely bewildered. He scanned the hallway, and then looked directly at Harry.

"Ah, Harry, I thought you were a student. What on earth are you doing this late at night?"

Harry chuckled a bit, "Well professor, I was, uh, just looking for something."

"Please, call me Albus. What was it you were looking for?" He glanced over Harry to see if he was holding anything, but luckily Harry had hidden the diadem in his robs. "Oh, a room I read about. It's said that it can change into whatever you need."

"Ah, one of the many legends of Hogwarts. Let me know it you ever manage to find it."

"I will." Harry stood up carefully, and with an excuse about needing to get some sleep, he edged away.

Albus remained there for a few moments pondering what it was Harry was hiding. The aura of mystery surrounding his new defense teacher seemed to be continuously growing. He hoped in time Harry would open up, and if he didn't, some investigations would need to be made.

oOo


End file.
